Luna Learns to Love
by Dark-Hearted-Luna-Uchiha
Summary: Luna was a child born into nothingness. She had no family or kindness given to her throughout her miserable life. Kakashi Hatake adopts here and enrolls her in the Ninja Acedemy where she is teamed with Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumacki, and Sasuke Uchiha.
1. The Unwanted Girl

It was pitch black as a crisp wind barreled through the Village Hidden In The Leaves. In a rundown alley, a small child, no older than six sat shivering up against a wooden wall. She had matted white hair, and crimson red eyes dulled from neglect. The child had no name, she was an orphan for her parents had abandoned her. Why, she had no idea. She was simply too small to remember. It could have been she was born into a poor family whom failed to support her, or perhaps they had died. Various reasons for her abadonement were thoughts that always seemed to hover over her like a cloud of despair. When the girl attempted to shake these saddening ideas from her mind, she was dismayed to dicover that such gloomy thoughts enjoyed her company. So for most of her life, she had reasoned that such a pathetic creature as herself lived merely to wander with vacant expressions playing on her face.

It seemed to be the only logical reason why she had been cursed with such a fate. As she scanned the skies with dull eyes searching for answers to her miserable exsistance, it began to rain. " What am I doing?" she whispered sullenly to the ominous sky. " What's the matter with me? Why won't anybody smile at me? Won't someone play with me?" The sky thundered in response and the girl shuddered. Out of nowhere, a looming figure twice as tall as the girl came into sight. It growled ferociously, stalking forward. " M-mommy?," she shivered. Under a brief glimpse of a houselight in the distance that flashed, she caught a glance of the creature before her. It was a massive dog, foaming at the jowels. Covered in mud and soaking wet it lurched toward the child with black beedy eyes. She screamed in pure terror. "G-go away bad doggie! Leave me alone!" Her sobs were muffled by a clash of lightening as rain began to pour harder. " MOMMY! DADDY! Please save me!" The yelling agitated the dog and it howled angrily. It's fangs became apparent for a second and then were concealed behind a steady flow of foam. With yet another flash of lightening, the dog charged, it's fangs bared. A blood curdling scream that should have woken the entire village fell upon deaf ears, for the boom of lightening cancled out the cries for help. Cowaring in a corner, the girl gingerly held her right leg, blood seeped in rivers from a fresh wound and the salt in the rain only increased the poor child's agony.

The dog spiraled around, forcing the girl out of her corner, and swayed in her direction. In fear of another assault, the girl quickly started the tedious task of crawling away, her injured leg dragging behind her leaving a trail of blood which was washed away with the rain. A mix of thunder claps and barking filled her head and she quickened her pace as much as possible. It was nearly impossible to see even with the light produced from nearby houses. After passing a ramen stand she came into the very center of the village. Homes were lit with warmth; it was almost enough to cause the girl to pause and bathe in the inviting light. It was at one house she halted and she lifted her head to just barely peer through a window. A family sat around a dinner table, preparing to eat. " They…they all look so happy," she whispered. The food looked so appetizing that her stomach lurched hungrily, reminding her of her missed meals. Another gut wrenching howel told her she was in trouble if she remained stationary for much longer.

Eyes frantically flicking about searching for salvation, the girl spotted what looked like a small mountain just a ways in front of her. Praying the rabid dog would not have enough common sense to pursue her to such a dangerous height, she pulled herself toward the dark sillouette. The entire way, the girl would cry out at spontaneous moments, " I don't wanna play anymore! Mommy, Daddy... help." Closer inspection revealed what she thought was a small mountain was the great Hokage faces. With the ever present thought of the mad dog shredding her thin body to bloody pieces, the girl began climbing. Her arms were weak and her leg was still bleeding profusely, but with another howl of the dog catching scent of his prey, she ignored her injuries and shimmied up another stone.


	2. Child's Play

Cautiously yet half dizzy, she slipped her quivering hands into the nooks and crannies of the faces.

Soon she swung her leg over the ledge and winced, pulling herself up. The vicious barks had subsided, but the threat of the lightening had increased and it streaked and danced across the sky like a viper. The wind whipped her hair around her face, and she sheilded her face with her cut hands.

This was no way to live, if perhaps one could even call such an exsistence living, and this the child new too well. Many times she had passed a building with children that poured out endlessly at sundown, glowing faces that grew brighter still when they encountered an adult that showed affection towards them. What these adults were dubbed was a mystery, so she had resorted to calling them angels. Any person who could bring so much bliss to another had to be an angel. And it seemed that everyone had one but her.

She crawled over to the brink of the Hokage Faces and stared into the horizon. Through the clouds a small beacon of pink and orange hues arose against the skyline. Would her angel appear for her, emerging from the light? Maybe hers abadoned her the way her parents did. The girl shook her head, water droplets glistening as they dropped.

"Nuh uh!," she cried into her knees, "Mommy and Daddy would never really leave...at least," she tilted her head to the ever rising sun. " At least, my angel wouldn't!"

It was just light enough to see the incredible distance that was laid before her, like an entire map of the world was visible. And then the girl had a thought, something foolproof to recover her parents.

"Wowie! I can see everything. I bet Mommy and Daddy can see me just like I can see the world!"

She inched to the end of the stone, dangling her bare feet, enjoying the security and the openess of this new frontier. To end the game, her finale was absoloute, she had to call her parents out. Young though she was there was one thing she understood clearly: Once the game of hide and seek was over, her parents had to reveal themselves. In the mind of a child, this logic seemed as reasonable as any well thought plan would. And her plan was to jump, to shout to the heavens her resigination and to finally see her family again.

"Mommy, Daddy, I give up, you win. Catch me!"  
Giving one last glance around, she slid off the faces. The sun and the wind intertwined, blinding the girl and leaving her light headed, but she perstited in yelling, "Catch me!"


	3. Memories and Sharingan

His nose tingled from the change in climate as the rain continued to swell and roar. It was indeed a miserable night to be out, but there he was. Of course, it was clear when he had headed to the kunai shaped memorial only a few hours prior, but the storm had hit without warning. "What a day..." he sighed through his black cloth mask, tapping his drenched head band. The village was still in ruin, families had been shattered, lives desecrated. The third hokage had passed and the time for the new had begun, but not without consequence. He passed a ramen shop, closed for the evening. The events replayed through his closed eyes, pain and grief. The nine-tailed fox had taken no prisoners, not even children were spared. The days beforehand had been relatively normal; the laughter of children from the academy, the din of town life, and him carrying out missions. And now, look where he was, engraving the names of his comrades and friends on the memorial. "Too much..." he muttered softly.

_Their names will be forgotten, their faces will fade..._ he thought coldly. How many names after all, did he know? Those on the stone that had been given memory bore no meaning for him, they were before his time. But seeing those he knew etched across the glassy surface sunk through his skin to the core of his very marrow. And to know that in time the next generation would forget those before them, stung. He grimaced as "if only's?" flew across his conscience. If only he had been stronger. If only the third hokage had not died. And if only his friends had not been heroes. Perhaps then, he would not have to be alone. The word snaked through his body...alone. Another sigh. His eyes followed a bolt of lightening towards the Hokage faces, contemplating how soon the third would join them in stone tribute.

Suddenly, it caught his eye. Something, or someone was falling at a dangerous pace. "What the...?" With a fluid motion, he uncovered his left eye yelling "Sharingan!" Adrenalin rushed though out his body. "There!," he marked the figure falling. It was a child, a little girl, and she was not breathing.


End file.
